Drafting an Exhibit Label
I first posted this without any context. Below you can find the original drafts but I thought it made sense to nest the various iterations of these labels (and also provide more context).
The assignment we have been handed is to write labels that provide context for artifacts without directly referring to the objects. These labels will be "backstories" to supplement the artifacts' primary labels. I've been assigned to present context for a collection of photo postcards taken by one of the sailors on the USS Olympia, Ote Fairbanks.
So here's the second draft (I welcome any editing suggestions in the comments):
World War I was the first war to feature cameras on the front lines. The Kodak Brownie (1900) had popularized snapshots, and the Vest Pocket Autographic (1914), also from Kodak, was even more portable. The photos that came back from battles were powerful. Many countries hired official photographers to show the heroic images they wanted their citizens to see and forbade soldiers and sailors to carry cameras. However, in remote parts of the war, soldiers and sailors often served as unofficial war photographers for their nations.
(84 words)
Sources:
http://blog.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/the-vest-pocket-kodak-was-the-soldiers-camera/
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/
http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/photography
World War I was the first war to feature cameras on the front lines. The Kodak Brownie (1900) had popularized snapshots, and the Vest Pocket Autographic (pictured, 1914), also from Kodak was even more portable. Sailors on the USS Olympia had very little space for personal items, but Ote Fairbanks found room for a camera. He documented many of the places the ship visited in its travels around Europe. Many of his photos were printed on photographs which he and his friends could send home to friends and family.
(87 words)
Sources:
http://blog.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/the-vest-pocket-kodak-was-the-soldiers-camera/
Diary of "Cranky" O'Kelly from the archives of the Independence Seaport Museum
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/
World War I was the first war to feature cameras on the front lines. The photos that came back from battles were powerful. The United Kingdom's government went so far as to hire official photographers to show the heroic images they wanted the citizens to see. Most individual British soldiers were forbidden from taking photos of the battles that they fought in. However, in more remote parts of the war, most countries allowed soldiers and sailors to document their experiences since there were not professional photographers in those places.
(89 words)
Sources:
http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/photography
